The Feast of Rificolona is a traditional Florentine event that takes its origins before the 20th century and also this year it will take place in Florence on 6th and 7th September 2010.

The following events are scheduled:

September, Monday 6th:
Rificolona in Arno river. Parade – Papier mâché allegories on boats enlightened by paper lanterns and prize-giving for the most original rificolona.

September, Tuesday 7th:
From Santa Croce Square to SS. Annunziata Square there will be a procession led by the cardinal.

Such a special and original event represents the Florentine folklore and among the citizens the tradition continues, and every year they make these multicolored paper lanterns of different shapes and colors and bring them around the city hanging on a cane.

The event dates back to the years before the 20th century, when on every September 7th the farmers living in the surrounding area used to gather and walked with small colored-paper lanterns (the rificolonas) towards SS. Annunziata square, in the centre of the city, to pay homage to the Virgin Mary, and also to sell their hand-made products.

So, still nowadays, on 7th September in Florence people use to make these colored and original lanterns. The event is in the heart of Florence’s citizens and the colored lanterns are hanging at windows of the palaces, of houses and buildings and in the streets of the city.

So, don’t miss such a unique traditional event in Florence. An original moment of joy for citizens and visitors. An opportunity for visiting this wonderful city full of art and history.

For further information about Florence, museums, monuments and itineraries, please visit the tourist guide to Florence: www.aboutflorence.com

This year there will be new initiatives: 20 seats will be available on the “Machina”, the structure placed on the Canal Grande that will host some great personages personally invited by Venice’s mayor. Such 20 seats will be available only for Venice citizens and will be selected by lot.

We think that’s a really good idea. The initiative has been called “Veneziani in platea” (“Venetians on stalls”) and it is organized in cooperation with the local newspapers (Il Corriere del Veneto, Il Gazzettino, La Nuova Venezia-Mestre) that on 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd August will publish a coupon that readers will have to fill in for taking part in the draw.

Well, if you are not Venetians you won’t have such an opportunity, but anyway we would like to shout good wishes to all Venetians who will take part in the competition!

The draw will take place on 3rd September at 12.00 pm in the city hall. Citizens will have the opportunity to watch, and the names of the lucky winners will be immediately published on the City of Venice’s official website.

The spirit of traditions in Venice is still in the heart of Venetians and their mayor, Giorgio Orsoni, who promoted this initiative: “The historical regatta maybe represents the most important moment in which habits and customs, traditions, proud and competition mix together in a unique event”.

Don’t miss such a wonderful sport event in the ancient city of Venice!

Further information about Venice are available on the travel guide to Venice www.aboutvenice.org

“Have you lost touch with who you are? Then risk everything and let yourself go”. These are the words of the trailer of “Eat, Pray, Love”, the new movie interpreted by the beautiful and very good actress Julia Roberts and based on a book written by the American writer Elizabeth Gilbert.

The film is based on an incredible real story, which tells about a 32-years-old businesswoman who, after her divorce and a hard time, decides to leave and spend one year traveling among Italy, India and Indonesia, looking for herself.

In the book, she tells about her four months spent in Italy, to be more precise, in the beautiful Rome, and we can discover all the special moments she lived there, eating and enjoying life like only Romans can do, as the author says.

She falls in love with the Italian lifestyle, the way they have fun and enjoy their life without feeling guilty about it, and she also falls in love with the shy Giovanni, a handsome Italian guy who becomes her personal Italian language teacher.

Learning Italian was one of the things she always wanted to do, and now she will have this chance. She will learn Italian language making conversation with many new friends, eating in special restaurants with them, and discovering the curious Italian ways of saying and a lot of new words.

She will attend an Italian language course at the Italian language School Leonardo da Vinci in Rome, mentioned in the book in chapter 14: “My classes begin today at the Leonardo da Vinci Academy of Language Studies, where I will be studying Italian five days a week, four hours a day. I’m so excited about school.”

And how could we blame her? Studying Italian in such a wonderful city like Rome, an incredible opportunity for making new friends and making conversation everyday with whoever in every moment of the day or night. It’s impossible not to learn Italian here!

She always wanted to learn Italian, and at the school she will find other many people like her: “The interesting thing about my Italian class is that nobody really needs to be there. There are twelve of us studying together, of all ages, from all over the world, and everybody has come to Rome for the same reason – to study Italian just because they feel like it.”

She’s right. Everybody should leave and go abroad at least once in their life for living a new experience, learning a foreign language and knowing a different culture. It is an important experience where people find themselves and often find out something about them that they not even knew.

Liz’s story is an unforgettable journey, which one day you could have as well. And why not coming to Rome for learning Italian language? As the author says, “[…] some things are only in Rome. Like the sandwich counterman so comfortably calling me ‘beautiful’ every time we speak”. And some pages after, she continues: “It’s kind of a fairyland of language for me here. For someone who has always wanted to speak Italian, what could be better than Rome?”.

Yeah. What could be better than the wonderful Rome for learning Italian? Scuola Leonardo da Vinci is ready to welcome you and the city waits for you for teaching all the curiosities of Italy and all the secrets of this wonderful land.

And don’t forget about Italian meals…described by the author as “truly life-changing”!!! Don’t be afraid. Just come and see! Italy and Rome will change your life.

Take a chance and spend a period abroad, in Rome! You could know your Giovanni!

Are you curious? Want to know something more?

- Further information about the several Italian language courses in Rome are available on the School Leonardo da Vinci’s website.

- For more information about the city of Rome, visit the travel guide About Roma.

- Watch the interview with Elizabeth Gilbert, with a special attention for Italian food

- The Authors@Google program presents Elizabeth Gilbert author of “Eat, Pray Love”:

A New York Times bestseller, “Eat, Pray, Love” is the story of the author, in her early 30s, dividing a year equally among three dissimilar countries - Italy, India, and Bali. Discover what the author thinks about Italy and Italian language! Sustaining a chatty, conspiratorial tone, Gilbert fully engages readers in the year’s cultural and emotional tapestry as she details her exotic tableau with history, anecdote and impression.

- Elizabeth Gilbert’s Official Website

- The Info-News Blog for Fans of “Eat, Pray, Love”

A special cultural event for discovering why and how ideas rise. This year the festival scheduled many appointments about creativity, shows, interesting meetings with scientists, artists, literati, historians, authors and philosophers.

Such a cultural event has come to its 7th edition and also this year visitors will find many surprises and brand new initiatives dedicated to adults and children.

The Festival will take place on 3rd, 4th and 5th September 2010 in several venues of Sarzana. As a matter of fact, the initiatives and meetings with important personages will happen in the squares and theatres of the town, with the stunning background of ancient palaces and the typical narrow streets of Sarzana. Among the venues of the event we find: Piazza Matteotti, Piazza Cesare Battisti, Cinema Italia, Teatro degli Impavidi, Piazza d’Armi (Fortezza Firmafede) and many others.

The protagonists are many and they belong to very different cultural fields. Just to mention a few: the meeting with the Catalan writer Javier Cercas (together with Aldo Cazzullo) entitled “Fra Letteraturà realtà” (“Between literature and reality”) which will take place on Sunday 5th September at 4.30 pm at Chiostro San Francesco.

In addition, the festival will present also a musical dimension with the Italian band Avion Travel, who will play on Sunday 5th September at 9.00 pm in Piazza d’armi Fortezza Firmafede.

Furthermore, Edoardo Boncinello, physician and geneticist who will present the meeting “La mente e il corpo. Le tre età: la formazione”; Roberto Escobar, phylosopher and cinema critic with Paolo Legrenzi, teacher of Cognivite Psychology at IUAV University in Venice, will present a meeting titled “Perchè crediamo alle storie?”.

Maurizio Ferraris, teacher of Theoretical Phylosophy at Turin University, will be at the festival with the meeting “L’anima and l’i-Pad” (“The soul and the i-Pad”) on Saturday 4th September at 3.00 in Sala Canale Lunense.

Edition 2009 was very successful, it was attended by a total audience of 40,000 in 3 days, and in 2010 the Festival della Mente, directed by Giulia Cogoli, will be holding its 7th edition with great guests and remarkable meetings.

Last year the festival concluded with the extraordinary participation of the author Roberto Saviano (“Gomorra”) and also this year the event will be even better.

Meetings, workshops, debates…the extraordinary success gathered thousands visitors from every corner of Italy and led the organization to enlarge the venues for the festival for meet the many visitors’ needs.

In the works we find once again “approfonditaMente”, a series of meetings-lessons-workshops dedicated to design, religion, environment, poetry, art, rhetoric and cooking, which are conceived for a little group of people, in order to create a nearer relation between the public and the speaker.

In addition, there’s a wide range of activities conceived for teens and children of any age, such as workshops, during which the parents will have the chance to leave their children alone with the teachers.

You can’t miss such a cultural and very creative event in a quaint and welcoming town like Sarzana, located just 10 minutes from the sea and close to many famous villages and seaside resorts, such as Cinque Terre, Lerici and Porto Venere.

It is a further opportunity for visiting places you have never seen and tasting local specialties in the several restaurants and pizzerias placed in the area.

For further information about Sarzana, a Spezia and useful tips about Liguria, please visit the new travel guide About Liguria.

Tickets
All the events require an entrance fee, except for event n. 1.

Prices: kid’s events €3,50; approfonditaMente and shows €7,00; all the other events €3,50.

It is recommended to buy the tickets promptly, in fact, during the past editions they sold out quickly. The direction reserves the right to modify the program; the changes will be communicated at the box office, at the information desks, and on the website.

Online Booking
Starting from July 22nd it is possible to buy the tickets online. The booking fee corresponds to the 10% of the ticket’s cost, it is necessary to collect the tickets at the 2 box offices based in Sarzana: piazza San Giorgio, Cittadella Piazza Firmafede until 2 hours before the beginning of the event (with the online purchase receit it is not possible to access the event).

Phone Booking
Starting from August 23rd until September 2nd the phone booking service will be active calling the number 0187 620419 from 9.00 to 12.30 am and from 4.00 to 8.00 pm.

We are talking about the 12th International Architecture Exhibition, known also as the biennale, which will take place in Venice in the autumnal season until 21st November 2010.

The 12th International Architecture Exhibition will be held at Palazzo delle Esposizioni of Biennale (Giardini), at the Arsenale (preview August 26, 27 and 28, 2010) and in other venues of Venice historical center.

Such an event will be directed by the architect Kazuyo Sejima, the first woman who will direct the Architecture Biennale.

This year, the exhibition will be entitled People meet in architecture and 48 participants will take part in the competition: studios, architects, engineers and artists coming from all over the world. As usual, the Exhibition will present 53 National Participations to be held in the historical Pavilions in the Giardini.

The title of the Padiglione Italia is AILATI. Reflections from the future, organized by The Ministry for the Cultural Heritage and Activities, with the PaBAAC - General Direction for the landscape, fine arts, architecture and contemporary art.

In addition, several side events are scheduled, organized by international institutions and companies that will set up exhibitions and initiatives in the several venues of the city of Venice.

As the director Sejima affirmed, the 12th Biennale will be a real reflection on architecture, analyzing the radical changes taking place in the twenty-first century and wondering if this kind of art can change representing the new values and modern styles of life.

Each participant will interpret personally the exhibition title by representing and expressing the interaction between environment and society, between man and landscape, a personal interpretation of the relations between man and architecture.

There are two projects scheduled for the exhibition of Venice Biennale 2010: “Architecture Saturdays” and “Destination Biennale di Venezia. Universities meet in architecture”.

The first one consists of a series of conversations and meetings held weekly with architects, critics and figures from the world of architecture in Italy and abroad, such as Vittorio Gregotti, Kurt W. Forster and Hans Hollein.

On the other hand, with the second project the Biennale wants to turn to universities and educational institutes, offering a visit to the Exhibition planned and organized by the institutions and representing a significant didactic and training experience.

In addition, we remind you that the inaugural and award ceremony of the 12th Exhibition will take place on Saturday, August 28th in the Giardini, with the awarding of the official awards assigned by the International Jury.

We wait for you in Venice for the 12th International Architecture Exhibition from August 29th until November 21st 2010.

For further information about the city of Venice please visit the website www.aboutvenice.org

Well, here it is the perfect event for you, especially if you love short movies.

As a matter of fact, Filmcaravan 2010 comes back at its 2nd edition, the festival dedicated to international short movies. Several short movies coming from all around the world will take part in the competition and will be projected during the evenings from August 4th to 7th in the province of Imperia (Region of Liguria), a city located by the Ligurian Sea.

The Festival began just yesterday night in the municipality of Cervo, with the projections of: An Untitled Life (Burma, 2008), Annie de Francia (France, 2009), Underwear (USA, 2009), True beauty last night (USA, 2009), Glenn Owen Dodds (Australia 2009), Worth (USA, 2008), Leave not a cloud behind (France / Germany / Columbia, 2010).

Tonight, on Thursday 5th August, in the town of Diano Castello the following short movies are scheduled: Careful with that axe (New Zealand, 2007), Pixels (France, 2010), Geboren & Getogen (Holland, 2009), 24.6 (Belgium, 2008), September (Great Britain, 2008), Music in the blood (Romania, 2009), Procuration (France, 2008), Jitensha (USA / Japan, 2009), Love child (Sweden, 2009).

The interesting films will be projected in the town of Dolcedo on Friday 6th August: Meteorites (Thailand, 2008), Donde està Kim Basinger? (France, 2009), Blue Sofa (Italy, 2009), La carte (France, 2009), Ja Ja Nein Nein (Switzerland, 2009), Dor (Israeli, 2009).

Finally, during the evening of Saturday 7th August, at Villa Grock in Imperia, the short movies awarded by Filmcaravan’s jury will be projected again, and subsequently, a full-length movie out of competition will be presented by the director Jacqueline Veuve: Un petit coin de paradis (Switzerland, 2008).

We remind you that in the first edition in 2009, Filmcaravan had a great success gathering more than 1500 spectators, with a very positive opinion by critics and audience.

Dear cinema and short movies addicts, you can’t miss such a fabulous event! The films on the agenda will wonder you with fun and emotions, under the starry nights of Imperia.

Enjoy!

For further information about Imperia and the Region of Liguria, please visit the travel guide to Liguria, www.aboutliguria.com

For several years now, the city of Rome has been celebrating this ceremony at Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary Major Basilica) and the folk custom consists of a rain of white petals falling down on the square in front of the basilica. This because, as the story goes, our Virgin Mary appeared in Pope Liberio’s dreams (352 a.C.) and showed him where he had to build a church, with a miraculous snowfall (although it was summer) on Esquilino (a historic district of Rome) in the night of August 5th 356 a.C.

The day after, the pope traced the perimeter of the church with the pastoral staff on the snow. Still today, the myth of the legend continues and every year, on 5th August this extraordinary event is celebrated with play of lights or a symbolic snowfall of white flowers.

In order to remember such a miraculous event, also this year, a rain of white petals will fall on the people who will gather in front of the Saint Mary Major Basilica in Rome, one of the four basilicas of the eternal city.

Thousands visitors are scheduled to come for the occasion and as each year, they will be overcrowded by a rain of white petals.

Rome waits for you with its traditions on 5th August 2010. A further chance for visiting Rome, the eternal city with huge monuments and large squares.

For more information, please visit the useful travel guide to Rome: www.aboutroma.com

This edition will be subdivided into 3 different sections: “Miti”, which focuses on the esthetics and the beauty of physical movements linked to the music, “Scene dagli anni Ottanta”, which comes back to the origins of contemporary times through some of the masterpieces of dance’ history, and “Platel e les ballets C de la B”, which explores the op position between pain and hope through the enchanting poit of view of Alain Platel and his company.

Torinodanza festival 2010 will be inaugurated with Balanchine-Kylián of the Royal Ballet of Flanders on Tuesday 7th September at Teatro Regio in Turin with its first Italian premiere. The company from Belgium will arrive to Turin with three titles: Theme and Variations by George Balanchine, Forgotten Land and 27’ 52” by Jirí Kylián.

The second show offered by Torinodanza will be “you PARA │ DISO”, which will include one of the most famous choreographer in Europe, the Italian Emio  Greco, who now lives in Amsterdam. The show will go on the stage on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th September at Fonderie Limone in the town of Moncalieri. After HELL and [purgatorio] POPOPERA, you PARA│DISO will end the cycle inspired from the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, with a choreography that wants to reveal the deepest memory of body.

The second section, “Scene dagli anni Ottanta”, will come back to make us think about the power of the 80s. on Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd October, the company Rosas will be present at the Cavallerizza Reale with Rosas danst Rosas, with the choreography by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. The show will focus on the representation of tensions and the contrast between rationality and emotions.

The third section, “Platel e les ballets C de la B” will take place together with Prospettiva 2, the theater festival connected to contemporary times at the Teatro Stabile in Turin, this year at its 2nd edition.

With the director and choreographer Alain Platel we will explore the op position between suffering and the need of revenge, between pain and hope: the secret of human life.

On Friday 29th and 30th October, at Cavallerizza Reale, there will be the Italian premiere of “Primero erscht”, the new creation by Lisi Estaras with les ballets C de la B.

On 9th and 10th November at Fonderie Limone in Moncalieri, there will be “Out of Context - for Pina”, in order to pay homage to the great artist Pina Bausch.

Finally on Friday 15th October, an Extra section at Teatro Carignano will present “Another Sleepy Dusty Delta Day” a dance solocreated in 2008 by the master of contemporary art Jan Fabre together with Ivana Jozic.
Further information about events in Turin are available on the website www.aboutturin.com

The ancient Palio of the Gulf is part of the many traditional events taking place in La Spezia, a town surrounded by mountains and the sea, and every year it takes place the 1st Sunday of August in front of the waterfront “Morin”.

The Palio is a challenging rowing race among 13 fishing boats handmade by local craftsmen, with peculiar features for making them faster in water.

Probably, it takes its origins from the challenge among the crews of fishing boats in the waters of the Gulf of La Spezia (or Gulf of the Poets), where there is mussels farming (or “muscoli” as the citizens call them).

In the past, such races were very important because the winner could have the priority in discharging goods and fish, rising in this way their profit.

And still nowadays, this challenge is very expected and beloved by all the citizens of La Spezia, especially by the borgate (districts and towns taking place in the competition): Porto Venere, Le Grazie, Fezzano, Cadimare, Marola, CRDD (Circolo ricreativo dipendenti difesa), Canaletto, Fossamastra, Muggiano, San Terenzo, Venere Azzurra, Lerici and Tellaro.

However, the Palio is more than a race, is the heart of the city, is culture, art and many events scheduled in the works:

On 23rd July at 8.30 pm: inauguration of Villaggio del Palio, along the waterfront Morin and the exhibition “Sommergibili nel Golfo” created by The Historical Maritime Society.

From Saturday 24th to 28th July at 9 pm: five evenings of debates dedicated to the sea for making the public aware of climate change and the safeguard of the environment. The presence of Dario Vergassola is scheduled for such evenings.

In addition, from 28th July to 1st August there will be the Summer National Games “Special Olympics” of rowing, with crews, made up of athletes with or without intellectual disability.

The Palio of the Gulf in La Spezia will start on Sunday 1st August at about 7.30 pm: two thousands meters in about 10 minutes. The day will end up with fantastic fireworks at 10.30 pm.

La Spezia in Liguria waits for you in great numbers to watch the 85th Palio of the Gulf and enjoy the several events organized by the city.

For further information about Liguria, beaches in Liguria, islands in Liguria and much more, visit our travel guide to Liguria: www.aboutliguria.com

The 78th edition of the event “Estate Musicale Chigiana” has begun on Sunday 18th July with a concert of Sofia Festival Orchestra, and the next appointment is scheduled for Saturday 24th July with the cello Antonio Meneses, followed by Joaquin Achucarro at the piano on Tuesday 27th.

Also in August, the appointments will be many: from 4th to 25th, several concerts are scheduled, having has protagonists instruments such as viola, violin, cello, piano, double bass, clarinet and some of the greatest international artists.

But the summer dedicated to the music in Siena continues. As a matter of fact, the great Siena Jazz Festival 2010 comes back to wonder spectators with great guests from all over the world.

From Friday 23rd July until 7th August 2010, the Fondazione Siena Jazz, the institution for high quality jazz training, once again organizes this great musical event, with the presence of great artists coming from America and Europe.

Where is Siena Jazz Festival 2010? Obviously in the most charming and striking places of the city! Jam sessions and extraordinary live performance will wait for you.

This year, visitors will find on the stage great international names such as John Taylor, Aaron Goldberg, Michael Blake, Jim Snidero, John Riley, Kenny Werner, Bobby Watson, Avishai Cohen, Glenn Ferris, Seamus Blake, Drew Gress, Ferenc Nemeth, Reuben Rogers, Eric Harland, Anders Jormin, Peter Bernstein, Ben Monder, Kenny Wheeler, Joel Frahm, Scott Colley, Omar Avital and Jeremy Pelt.

In addition, also many Italian artists will be present, such as Riccardo Del Fra, Stefano Battaglia, Bruno Tommaso, Furio Di Castri, Pietro Leveratto, Massimo Manzi and many others. On Saturday 24th July, Seminari Estivi (Summer Courses) of Siena Jazz will begin with the Orchestra InJam and the guest Gless Ferris.

The last two appointments are scheduled for 5th, 6th and 7th August at Enoteca Italiana (at 9.45 pm - free entrance) with many bands and jazz artists.

Finally, we remind you another appointment with music in Siena: the 35th edition of Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte in Montepulciano (a small ancient village located near Siena). The event, which was created by the composer Hans Werner Henze, began on 15th July and will continue until 1st August 2010, offering its audience its main feature: the interaction between professional, famous artists and young talents.

Once again, among the green rolling Tuscan hills and the charming Renaissance’ buildings, operas and performances created by famous contemporary authors will be put on the stage for the first time.

This year, the event aims to experimentation and innovation through studies and workshops about techniques for composing and performances.

Tomorrow, on Thursday 22nd July, Recital per violino e pianoforte is scheduled for 6 pm with the violin Eva Thorarinsdottir, and Malcom Forbes and Peckham at the piano, whereas the Concert of Contemporary Music “Ensemble 2 Agosto” is scheduled for 9.30 pm, with an absolute premiere of contemporary music.

This and much more wait for you in the medieval city of Siena, for a summer in the pursuit of music, rich in concerts, live performances and musical courses.

For further information about events in Siena, please visit our online tourist guide to Siena: www.aboutsiena.com.